Major banana-exporting countries in Latin America have seen variances in terms of volumes so far this year compared to 2014, with rises for Ecuador and Guatemala and declines for Colombia and Costa Rica.

Ecuador's shipments by the end of August rose 7% year-on-year to reach 4.1 million metric tons (MT), and grew 12% in value to hit US$1.86 billion, according to the Central Bank of Ecuador.

The returns were aided by an average increase in the freight on board (FOB) price of between US$0.43-0.45 per kilo, compared with the same period in 2014.

Russia has been Ecuador's main market receiving 20% of the country's banana shipments so far, but volumes still fell 5% year-on-year. The U.S. and Germany both saw small rises of 7% and 5% respectively.

There have been significant rises, however, in exports to Turkey and China, receiving 34% and 39% more respectively, making them Ecuador's fourth and fifth most important markets.

Guatemala, the second-largest banana exporter in Latin America, saw a rise of 9% and total volumes of 1.5 million MT by the end of August, according to the Bank of Guatemala.

The U.S. continued to be the main destination, receiving 91% of all shipments. The next most important destinations were neighboring Honduras and El Salvador.

There was also a significant decline in the volumes shipped to European countries like Italy, the U.K. and the Netherlands, as well as Asian countries including South Korea and Japan.

The value of exports until August rose 14% year-on-year to reach US$409 million, in part thanks to the average FOB price rising 5% to US$0.34 per kilogram.

Looking at the countries that saw falls in their banana exports during 2015, Colombia's volumes dropped 6% while Costa Rica's declined 13%, according to the Colombian National Statistics Department and the Costa Rican Ministry of Finance.

As of August this year, Colombia had exported 1.1 million MT while the Central American country had shipped 963,000MT.

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